Bottle-stopper



(No Model.)

B. H. & C. MGRGAN.

BOTTLE STGPPER. y No. 350,598. Patented Oct. 12, 18.86.

@VLM/moo@ 'uit Nrrn rArns EDGAR H, MORGAN AND CHARLES MORGAN, OFFREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NoA 350,598, dated October12, 1886. Application filed February 2.3, i886. Serial No. 192,790. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDGAR H. MORGAN and CHARLES MORGAN, residents ofFreeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of' lllinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for StoppingBottles; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilledinthe art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

The object of our invention is to provide means for quickly and securelyclosing bottles, dispensing with the ordinary long cork andsecuring-wires, and for readily opening the bottles again without the,use of 4distinct appliances for that purpose. Our means comprise alayer of cork or other elastic material retained over the mouth of thebottle by an inverted cup-shaped cap and revoluble arms mounted on saidcap and adapted to engage with the shoulder formed by the usual enlarged neck of the bottle.

ln the accompanying drawings, to which this specification refers, Figure1 shows the cap and arms in plan. Fig. -2`is an elevation of the samewith 'the upper part of a bottle neck. Fig. 3 is a section on the line XY, Fig. l, looking in the direction a. Fig. 4 is a plan of the bottlewith the cap removed. Fig. 5 is a section on the line X Y', Fig. 4t.Fig. 6 shows the cap and arms seen in the direction a', Fig. 2.

In the drawings, A is a cap fitting over the mouth of the bottle andextending somewhat below the enlarged portion G of the bottle-neck D. Acylindrical rod, O, lies diametrically across the upper surface of thecap A, and has each of its ends bent downward to form arms on oppositesides of the cap. The arms are bent inward in their own plane at m, Fig.6, passing beneath and in contact with the lowerl surface of theprojecting portion G of the bottle-neck. They are again bent at rightangle to their plane m m C, Fig. 6, and terminate in short straightportions I I', substantially in contact with the surface of the bottle.To allow their inward bending at mm, the side walls of the cap A are eutaway at K, Figsl" 2, 3, and 6, and the slot so formed in the cap isenlarged on one side sufficiently to allow the arms to rotate freely inthat direction, while the edge of the slot prevents rotation inacontrary direction. The bearing B iucloses the straight connectingportion of the rod betweenthe two arms.

E, Fig. 3. is a layer or disk of cork, rubber, or other similarsubstance, remaining constantly on the cap, and is of such thicknessthat when the ends of the arms O are in position beneath the shoulderformed by the enlargement G it must 'be'compressed against the end ofthe bottle. To insure between the cork and the end of the bottle-necksuch contact that no liquid can pass, annular Vgrooves H H are formed inthe glass. as shown inFigs. 4 and 5. The grooves are narrower at thebottom than at the top, so that the part of the stopper forced into themmay be compressed laterally as well as vertically.

To apply, the cap to a bottle, the arms are thrown back in the directionof the arrow a, Fig. 2, and the cap placed over the mouth of the bottle.It is then pressed down upon the end of the neck by any suitable meansuntil the yielding of the disk E is sufiicient to allow theinwardly-bent arm ends to pass under the shoulder G, when the pressuremay beremoved and the bottle is securely stopped. No upward pressureupon the cap can cause the wire or rod O to spring out and disengage theends from the shoulder G, for the ends I l lie under and are retainedbythe lips J of the cap. In removing the cap the rod C is rotated in thedirection a, Fig. 2, in the bearing B. Should internal pressure againstthe cap un- Y der the revolving ofthe rod AC be difficult, the

cap may be rested against any fixed object and the bottle be pressedinto it until the internal pressure is overcome.

The layer of cork may be replaced by an ordinary stopper inserted in thebottle and the remaining parts of the apparatus act as a siu1- plecork-retainer; and if both forms of cork beemployed our entire deviceoperates as has been set forth and gives extraordinary security ofclosing.

,Having now explained the construction and operation of ourinvention,what we claim isl. In means for stopping bottles, a cork adapted to theneck of the bottle, a cup inverted over said cork and the bottle-neck,diametrically-opposite arms revolubly attached IOO to said clip andadapted to engage suitable projections upon the exterior of saidbottleneck, said eup extending hlelow said projections and adapted toreceive the ends o1" said armsV and to permit only tangential displacenien t thereof.

2. In combination with the neel; of a bottle and a cork adapted thereto,the cap A. pro` vided with notches K in its margin, and bear ingrevoluble inwardly and laterally bent arms C m1, said arms being adaptedby their inwardly-bent portions to engage a shoulder upon the bottleneckand by their laterallybent ends to be retained by the edges of the cap,substantially as set forth.

3. The grooved neel: having a shoulder, the elastic stopper, the cap A,having notches K in its dependent flange, the arms C, havinginwardly"bent portions m and laterally-bent ends I, all combined andoperating substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof We have signed this speeifieation in the presenceof two subscribing Witnesses.

EDGAR H. MORGAN. CHARLES MORGAN.

lVitnesses:

Cults. GILBERT, S. A. BUCKMAN.

